In Situ and Real-Time Monitoring of Nanoparticle Formation in Microemulsion by Means of Dielectric Spectroscopy

Aggregation Behavior of Ethoxylated Phytosterol Surfactants in Different Protic Solvents: An Insight from Dielectric Relaxation Studies

The micellar aggregation behavior of biocompatible surfactants, phytosterol ethoxylates (BPS-n, n is the oxyethylene (EO) chain length), containing polyoxyethylene chains in four organic solvents (glycerol (G), ethylene glycol (EG), formamide (FA), and N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF)) was studied by dielectric spectroscopy in the frequency range of 40 Hz to 110 MHz. Only the BPS-n/EG and BPS-n/G systems show distinct dielectric loss peaks near 104 Hz, indicating that BPS-n forms micellar aggregates in EG and G solvents, and the interfacial polarization (IP) between the aggregates and solvents leads to this relaxation. The dielectric spectra were analyzed based on the IP theory and a columnar dispersion model. The dielectric parameters of micelles, the permittivity and conductivity of micelles and solvents, and the volume fraction of the aggregates in solvents were calculated. On this basis, the binding numbers of each EO group on the hydrophobic chain to the solvent molecules EG and G were calculated to be 0.42 and 0.22, respectively. It was suggested that the aggregation appears to be related to the magnitude of the hydrogen bonding interactions. The lower number of EO group-binding solvents is because of the strong steric effect of alcohol solvents and the magnitude of the hydrogen bonding force.

In Situ Dielectric Spectroscopy Monitoring of Silica Nanoparticle Synthesis in Cationic Water-in-Oil Microemulsions

In situ monitoring of microemulsion-based nanoparticle synthesis is significant for understanding the particle formation mechanism and for advancing controlled nanoparticle synthesis by this means. In this study, the processes of silica nanoparticle synthesis in a CTAB/n-hexanol/cyclohexane/ammonia microemulsion were monitored via dielectric spectroscopy in situ and in real time, with the influences of the water content and precursor concentration being considered. Two dielectric relaxations in addition to a water-induced one were observed in the frequency range of 1 MHz to 3 GHz, which persist throughout the synthesis processes. It is suggested that the lower-frequency relaxation is ascribed to interfacial polarization and the higher-frequency one is caused by the orientational polarization of the ion pair consisting of a counterion and a surfactant polar group. The latter and water-induced relaxations were found to be barely changed during the synthesis processes, while the former changes obviously with synthesis time. The evolution of the lower-frequency relaxation and direct current conductivity with synthesis time are presented and discussed, on the basis of which the particle formation process is inspected from a dielectric spectroscopic point of view.